Gemello, Mountain View

When the Hilton Brown family moved west in 1982, transferred by IBM from New York to California, they drove around looking for just the right place to settle. They found it in the Gemello neighborhood -- a small enclave wedged between El Monte Avenue, El Camino, and the Los Altos border (Jardin Drive and Karen Way). Then, as now, it was just "a great neighborhood," according to Hilton Brown.

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It's still a peaceful kind of neighborhood where kids and parents play ball in the small Gemello Park after dinner and people walk their dogs in the cool, evening twilight. "It's not fancy, upscale or jazzy. It's a simple, comfortable place to live. Safe, quiet and friendly," said Barbara Bernstein who bought her home on Jardin Drive in 1985.

Until the 1950s, much of the neighborhood was farmland, first owned by the Martel family, then by John Gemello and his family, who ran an orchard and winery.

Gemello facts CHILDCARE AND PRESCHOOLS: Childrens Learning Cottage, 675 Escuela Ave.; Mountain View KinderCare, 2065 W. El Camino Real; St. Paul Lutheran CDC, 1075 El Monte Ave.; Wonder World, 2015 Latham St. (nearby) FIRE STATION: No. 3, 301 N. Rengstorff Ave.; No. 1, 251 S. Shoreline Blvd. PARK: Gemello Park, Marich Way and Solana Court POST OFFICE: Mountain View, 211 Hope St., Blossom Valley, 1768 Miramonte Ave. PRIVATE SCHOOLS (NEARBY): The Girls' Middle School, 180 N. Rengstorff Ave. PUBLIC SCHOOLS: Mtn. View-Whisman School District -- Bubb Elementary School, Graham Middle School; Mtn. View-Los Altos Union High School District -- Los Altos High School SHOPPING: Downtown Mountain View, Downtown Los Altos, Longs Shopping Center, Gemello Village, Clarkwood Center MEDIAN 2007 HOME PRICE: $1,049,500 ($862,000-$1,677,000) # HOMES SOLD: 8 MEDIAN 2007 CONDO PRICE: $745,000 ($567,000-$850,000) # CONDOS SOLD: 5

In 1951, they sold their orchards to William Blackfield, president of the Meadow Development Company of San Francisco. Eventually, the family wine operation moved to Mendocino but the tasting room at 2003 El Camino Real continued into the late '80s when it was razed for housing.

The Rancho Village subdivision or Blackfield Village as it was also called consisted of 974-square-foot, three-bedroom, one-bath homes built on a concrete slab foundation. A second development called Excel homes followed. These were slightly larger at 1,174 square feet, with three bedrooms and one-and-a-half baths. A few years later, apartments were built on Edenamary Way and duplexes on Marich Way. Some of those original Blackfield and Excel homes remain today, while still others have been renovated and updated. A few have been torn down and replaced.

For the most part, homeowners tend to keep to themselves, or know three or four other families in the neighborhood. "People are busy; they're working," explained Mountain View Councilman Mike Kasperzak, who bought his Gemello home in 1976. There isn't as large a sense of community as there used to be, he said, but he and his wife Lisa still try to host an annual Christmas party for their neighbors.

Kasperzak recalls how parts of the neighborhood have changed over the years. The historical big white home, similar to the Rengstorff House, was replaced with the Oak Park condominiums; the Chevrolet dealership at Rengstorff and El Camino is a two-story office building; the popular bowling alley in front of the Gemello Tasting Store has become a strip mall; and the Gemello Tasting Store property is now apartments.

Eugenia and Ken Liu are fairly typical of the new folks moving into the neighborhood. When they began their search for a new home in 2002, they chose the Gemello neighborhood for its location, good schools and proximity to downtown Mountain View and Los Altos. Someday, they may expand their home, or tear it down and rebuild, they say. But, for the present, leading busy lives and working long hours in their Silicon Valley jobs, home is a welcomed retreat.

-- Suzanne Bellamy